Indy writes: A friend and I had heard about the subway promotional event off this site, so we went to check it out, and I have to say it was handled appallingly. I suspected there would be giveaways, as there often are at such things (perhaps just paper bookmarks or stickers). But I never dreamed they’d give away the DVD itself, which is fine since I didn’t get one anyway. They had DVD’s and a medallion item to give away, but it was all handled so nastily that I, even as a huge fan, have to say it served to turn me off to the whole thing, rather than pique my interest.
I got there right about 11:20 AM, and a rather large, but tame crowd drew pretty quickly. They had a short train, on which one car had been lit green and decorated with leaf-patterned seats and ads for the DVD. There were Gollum figures (about 1/2 scale) on the end of each bench in the car (about 16 total). Some of the subway platform pillars were wrapped in straw. And the platform benches had two more of the same Gollum figures on logo platforms that had some crude little voice feature (like the toys have) that was totally drowned out and could not be heard. That was about it.
But what was really crummy was how once again New Line seems to have totally underestimated interest in LOTR and just not prepared for their own party. The giveaways were snapped up so quickly that a lot of people never seemed to know what was even being given away until it was all over, and then it quickly degenerated into a nasty “crowd dispersal” operation by cops and MTA workers who were screaming and yelling in everyone’s faces to leave and that the train was “for the press only” and everyone had to leave the platform. They took what might have been a mildly interesting stunt that could have been worth a smirk on your lunch break and turned it into an opportunity to make regular people feel left out of something they never knew was even going on.
What was the worst was to see some of the younger fans, kids and teens, who seemed to have come knowing about the event (hoping to get a look at something fun), leave having been pushed and shoved around, screamed at and made to feel like they’d done something wrong for even being interested. It was nasty. I saw a group of kids skulk away with their chaperone, muttering how “Gollum sucks”. I don’t think that was the intended point of the event. It made me feel like telling those kids to just read the book and forget about the movie. Of course, all the press that was there seemed to be carting around their free DVD’s. They got first crack it seemed. Good for them, like I’m sure they deserve free copies more than any fans (!). It wasn’t any kind of special promotional disc used for media coverage, it just looked like the same new extended set that is now sold in stores – a straight-up swag bribe to members of the media. That’s not so surprising, I suppose, but it didn’t help that it was done right in the faces of the fans that were being actively screamed at and turned away at that same moment, two feet away.
Oh, and all of this was totally over by 12:15 PM, a full hour and 15 minutes before the event was supposed to end; it was a mere 45 minutes into the event by the time everything was totally over and the platform was completely cleared by the cops. It’s interesting to see the speculation that this behavior regarding surprise giveaways may explain the lack of additional Trilogy Tuesday screenings. If that’s the reason, I’ll be livid. JUST SHOW MORE OF US THE MOVIES!, New Line! Here in NYC, it was IMPOSSIBLE to get tickets to Trilogy Tuesday, and I don’t know a single ardent fan who got one despite going to great lengths try and order online that day or go to the theaters in person that day. After two spectacular experiences with FOTR and TTT, the leadup to ROTK has really been nothing but disappointment after disappointment for fans so far (in my own personal experience anyway), directly caused by the company, it seems. Too bad. Too bad indeed.
This LOTR train was “Out of Service”.
-Indy.
* * *
Ringer Spy Lisa writes: I work a couple of blocks away from Grand Central, so, I decided to wander over there at lunchtime and check out the “Middle-earth shuttle.”
Got on the thankfully-not-too-long line at about 12:30 and waited patiently behind a chain across the platform. There were people milling about the platform and then, finally, about 10 minutes later, the train took off for Times Square. And that’s when the cops told us it was all over. At 12:45. Not 1:30. 12:45. Because all the DVDs and medallions were gone and they didn’t want anybody else on the platform.
Huh?
It seems to me that New Line has a misguided perception of what fans want. Nowhere in the announcement about the shuttle did it say that there would be giveaways… but people showed up. So why would you end it when the giveaways that nobody knew about anyway are gone?
It’s interesting hearing this on the heels of some speculation I’ve seen that part of the reason why New Line hasn’t opened up Trilogy Tuesday to additional screens is that they have something they’re giving away and don’t want to have to produce more.
Again… nowhere in the press or announcements did it intimate that ticket buyers would get anything but the chance to see the movies… and yet, there is the possibility (though, of course, I only read that on the internet, so, who knows? :)), that the limited availability of non-promoted giveaways is stopping them from expanding the release. If this is true, it seems they are definitely uncelar about what makes fans show up for this kind of thing.
Next time something like this comes up, remind me to take my magic watch that tells me that 12:45 is actually 1:30. 😛
So frustrating.
Lisa
Ringer Spy Bucky Underbelly writes: Just got back from Grand Central Station in New York City where the TTT:EE DVD launch was supposed to be celebrated with a special theme subway car (made up Fangorn-style with leaves and vines and such) between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. … but they shut it down early! By almost 45 minutes!
So a whole bunch of people didn’t get to see it! There were lots of cops and transit folks around, so I wonder if it was New Line that shut it early or the cops. I hope things didn’t get out of hand. From what we could see, however, one of the subway cars seemed to have its seats painted like leaves and there were a number of the big Gollum statues on the subway platform. Man, I would have liked to taken a ride, though!
Ringer Spy Joseph writes:
I’ve recently noticed that some Return of the King music has already started to be played on Classic FM. Here’s the schedule of what has been played and what will be played:
14/11/03 11:46:34 The Two Towers – Forth Eorlingas Howard Shore
15/11/03 09:41:55 The Two Towers – the White Rider Howard Shore
16/11/03 11:19:16 The Two Towers – Forth Eorlingas Howard Shore
17/11/03 11:48:26 The Return of the King – The White Tree Howard Shore
18/11/03 12:22:17 The Return of the King – Twilight and Shadow Howard Shore
22/11/03 09:24:17 Lord of the Rings – Many meetings Howard Shore
22/11/03 10:43:33 The Return of the King – The End of All Things Howard Shore
Note, all of these times are based in Britain, so subtract 5 hours if you’re in Eastern Standard Time- US. Of course all of this can be accessed through http://www.classicfm.com.
Victoria sends in this spy report from Viggo Mortensen’s poetry reading.
* * *
Just wanted to share that I was at the benefit poetry reading for Midnight Special that was held at Beyond Baroque in Venice, CA last night. After a fun musical opening from John Condron, Viggo made a nice speech about the purpose of the benefit reading, and how it was to raise funds for the Midnight Special bookstore, which is closing and moving to a new location in Santa Monica. Then one of the Beyond Baroque staff members reminded him to tell the audience that the authors/poets would be signing books afterwards, and Viggo quipped that he knew he would “f**k it up” 😉
Later in the program, Viggo came back to do his set. He was very charming and funny; he was carrying with him a small stack of books and papers and made comments about how his stuff was a mess, that basically his poetry was disorganized as much of his life was. But he was saying it in such a way that the audience forgave him his bumbling and disorganization. He also made several comments during his poetry readings about his poetry being sad – which is true, as most of his writing is delicate, melancholic, and dreamlike. The audience lapped up his self-deprecation like milk, and laughed when it was appropriate because, let’s face it, Viggo is one charming man.
He opened with “Song”, a poem by Edward Hirsch – a curious choice as someone else had read the same exact poem earlier that night (so maybe Viggo wasn’t paying attention or just felt like repeating the poem – who knows?). Then he read some of his own poetry, like “Hillside” and “First Light” (as I think it was called (?) – he said he thought about it in NZ while he was driving, and he had to stop at the side of the road to finish writing the poem). Viggo then read some poetry from NZ poets – he commented that the one thing that surprised him about NZ (besides the fact that in NZ, people are genuinely nice and put the community first, the individual second) was that there were a lot of good poets in NZ. Then he read a poem in Spanish, which I didn’t understand, but it was lovely hearing him speak Spanish. Finally, he closed with Back To Babylon (which he also read at the Rally Against US Iraq Policy in October).
Later on that night, he stayed afterwards to sign copies of The Spoken Word Revolution (Slam, Hip Hop & the Poetry of a New Generation), which contains a few of his poems in the book and on the CD. We weren’t allowed to take pictures during the reading, and when it was my turn to get my book signed, the Beyond Baroque people said that from now on we couldn’t take pictures because it was taking too long (it was about 1:20 AM), so I wasn’t able to snap a close-up shot of him *sigh*
All in all, it was a really cool night. Seeing Viggo was just the icing on the cake, because the other performers were completely amazing.
Cheers, Victoria
Dear TheOneRing.Net
I received the latest LOTR newsletter from Japan Herald, the distributor of LOTR movies in Japan. They officially announced they will have special showing of “FOTR” and “TTT” Special Extended Edition at limited movie theaters.
-Dates-
The Fellowship of The Ring
01/10/04 (Sat.) – 01/23/04 (Fri.)
The Two Towers
01/24/04 (Sat.) – 02/06/04 (Fri.)
-Theaters-
TOKYO: TouGeki
OSAKA: Paradise Square
NAGOYA: Virgin Cinemas Nagoya Bay City
SAPPORO: Cinema Frontier
KYUSHU: United Cinema Fukuoka
-Tickets-
Adults: 1800 yen
Students (College or High School): 1500 yen
Students (Junior High or younger): 1000 yen
Seniors: 1000 yen
NO ADVANCED TICKETS FOR THESE SHOWS
—–
By the way, it seems like Japan will not have “Trilogy” event after all (or so far?), but will hold special showing of “FOTR – TTT SEE” only for 200 very lucky Passport Members who will receive the invitation soon by random drawing.
DATE and TIME: 11/29/03 22:00PM-7:00AM
PLACE: Takayama Asahi-za (Takayama city, Gifu)
This event will be hold at Hida-Takayama, the winner of “Where’s the Middle-Earth in Japan” poll. Many of LOTR fans voted for this place because Hida-Takayama has the image, and in fact, Hida-Takayama is geographically located on (or really close to) the center of Japan.
BIG Drawing for LOTR goods and special guests are scheduled.
REPEAT: This event is “invitation only” There’s no way to get in unless you have the invitation.
Eriniel
Linda writes: Apparently the online sales problem at Famous Players Capitol 6 has been resolved. I spoke with someone at the theatre this morning and there are still lots of tickets available and you do not have to wait until Dec 16 to buy them. Just go online to www.Famousplayers.com.
He says their ticket situation is ‘unique’ but you can pre-order. They will likely cut off sales December 14 (I assume unless sold out before that) and then print the tickets sold for pickup Dec 14 or 15 as well as on Dec 16 (the day of the showing).
You will need to bring your online confirmation form to claim your tickets so don’t forget to print it! There will also be intermissions between the films to attend to personal necessities.
